Relative usage and location optimization system

ABSTRACT

A system and method for rendering advertisements on electronic devices to consumers based upon one or more delivery requirements. The delivery requirements may specify that advertisements be rendered within a specified criteria after a change of state of an associated electronic device. In this manner, the present disclosure is able to maximize the effectiveness of the advertisements. In particular, after a change of state of an electronic device, a content stream may be monitored for an advertisement placement opportunity that satisfies a predetermined delivery requirement. After the advertisement placement opportunity is determined, an advertisement, such as a targeted advertisement, may be inserted into the content stream. The present disclosure may further include a pricing structure based upon the delivery requirement such that advertising providers pay a premium for advertisements rendered just after a change of state of an electronic device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/756,134, filed Apr. 7, 2010, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 12/544,981, filed Aug. 20, 2009, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/326,009, filed Dec. 1,2008, which is a continuation-in-part of prior U.S. application Ser. No.12/177,079, filed Jul. 21, 2008, which is a continuation of prior U.S.application Ser. No. 12/074,549, filed Mar. 3, 2008, which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/928,318, filed May 8,2007, and 60/904,467, filed Mar. 2, 2007, and, which are herebyincorporated by reference herein in their entirety, including but notlimited to those portions that specifically appear hereinafter, theincorporation by reference being made with the following exception: Inthe event that any portion of the above-referenced applications areinconsistent with this application, this application supercedes saidabove-referenced applications.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND

1. The Field of the Invention.

The present disclosure relates generally to a system and method forrendering advertisements, and more particularly, but not necessarilyentirely, rendering advertisements to users of electronic devices inassociation with predetermined delivery requirements.

2. Description of Related Art

Traditional advertisement methods involve broadcasting advertising andprogramming material together to multiple recipients in the samegeographic area. For example, advertising and programming material maybe broadcast through a television or radio station in a content streamavailable to all television sets within range of the station. In thetraditional advertising model, advertisers pay for advertising slots inthe programming. The pricing of the advertising is typically based uponthe popularity of the underlying program. For example, advertisersgenerally pay a premium for advertising slots purchased during a highlyrated sitcom while late night advertising slots may be fairlyinexpensive.

One drawback to the traditional advertising model may be that itcompletely ignores the relative usage of a specific user and the numberof advertisements seen by that user. In particular, the effectiveness ofan advertisement is likely to be much greater just after the user turnson a television or switches a channel than after the user has beenwatching the television for an extended period of time. This isespecially true where some statistics indicate that an average U.S.household watches over four hours of television per day. The reason forthe greater effectiveness of advertisements shown immediately after theuser begins watching the television is that the user has not become oversaturated with advertisements and is therefore much more likely to payattention to the advertisements rendered immediately after the userbegins watching the television. In the past, advertisers and contentproviders have been unable to control the placement of advertisementsbased upon the relative usage of users.

Another drawback to the traditional advertising model may be that itdoes not take into account the relative location of the advertisementplacement at the individual level, let alone the individual level. Atbest, under the traditional advertising model, an advertiser can onlypurchase a particular time slot, but the advertiser will have no controlover whether that advertisement will be the first, second, third, and soforth, advertisement seen by the user.

Thus, traditional advertising models completely ignore the relativeusage of a specific viewer and number of impressions the actual viewerhas already been exposed to which can dramatically impact the value ofthat advertisement. For example, under the presently availableadvertising methods, if an advertiser purchased a 30-second time slotfor 7:35 p.m., the advertiser has no idea if the user has been watchingtelevision all day or just turned the television on at 7:34 pm. As such,there is no way to control the relative placement of the advertisementwith respect to a user—that is, the advertiser's advertisement could bethe first or the one hundredth advertisement viewed by the user. In thissense, the advertiser has absolutely no control over the advertisement'splacement using conventional advertising methods.

The prior art is thus characterized by several disadvantages that areaddressed by the present disclosure. The present disclosure minimizes,and in some aspects eliminates, the above-mentioned failures, and otherproblems, by utilizing the methods and structural features describedherein. The features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forthin the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from thedescription, or may be learned by the practice of the disclosure withoutundue experimentation. The features and advantages of the disclosure maybe realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinationsparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent froma consideration of the subsequent detailed description presented inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a system pursuant tothe present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of theelectronic device illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of thecentralized management system illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of a system pursuantto the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles inaccordance with the disclosure, reference will now be made to theembodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will beused to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that nolimitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. Anyalterations and further modifications of the inventive featuresillustrated herein, and any additional applications of the principles ofthe disclosure as illustrated herein, which would normally occur to oneskilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure,are to be considered within the scope of the disclosure claimed.

It must be noted that, as used in this specification and the appendedclaims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referentsunless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In describing andclaiming the present disclosure, the following terminology will be usedin accordance with the definitions set out below. As used herein, theterms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” “containing,” “characterizedby,” and grammatical equivalents thereof are inclusive or open-endedterms that do not exclude additional, unrecited elements or methodsteps.

As used herein, the term “content stream” may mean information of anaudio and/or visual nature that may be rendered through the use of anelectronic device. The content stream may be embodied in a signal,including, without limitation, electromagnetic signals and light-basedsignals, either of a wired or wireless nature. The content stream may beembodied in a storage medium, including digital and analog storagemediums, such as hard drives, electronic memory, and optical storagemediums. The content stream may include information, including at leastone of programming and advertisements. The content stream may begenerated by a remote or local content source as described herein.

As used herein, the term “render,” and its grammatical equivalents, maymean to play, display, draw, interpret, decode, show, reproduce, orotherwise present the information in the content stream in a manner thatcan be perceived by a human. For example, the information in the contentstream may be rendered to a user using a display, monitor, television,or screen in combination with speakers.

Further, many of the functional units described in this disclosure havebeen labeled as “modules,” in order to more particularly emphasize theirimplementation independence. For example, a module may be implemented asa hardware circuit comprising custom VLSI circuits or gate arrays,off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or otherdiscrete components. A module may also be implemented in programmablehardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmablearray logic, programmable logic devices or the like.

Modules may also be implemented in software code operating on acomputer, sometimes referred to as computer readable instructions, forexecution by various types of microprocessors. An identified module ofexecutable code may, for instance, include one or more physical orlogical blocks of computer instructions that may, for instance, beorganized as an object, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, theexecutables of an identified module need not be physically locatedtogether, but may comprise disparate instructions stored in differentlocations which, when joined logically together, comprise the module andachieve the stated purpose for the module.

Indeed, a module of executable code operating on a computer may be asingle instruction operating on a single computer, or many instructionsoperating on a single computer or on multiple computers, and may even bedistributed over several different code segments, among differentprograms, and across several memory devices. Similarly, operational datamay be identified and illustrated herein within modules, and may beembodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type ofdata structure. The operational data may be collected as a single dataset, or may be distributed over different locations including overdifferent storage devices, and may exist, at least partially, merely aselectronic signals on a system or network.

Turning now to the present disclosure, applicant has discovered a systemand method for allowing advertisement placement to be based uponrelative usage and relative location with respect to an individual's useof an electronic device. The present disclosure may allow an advertiserto dictate that an advertisement be the first advertisement rendered toa user after the user has turned on the electronic device or changed thestate of the electronic device. In this manner, the advertisement mayhave a greater impact upon the user. The present disclosure may furtherallow an advertiser to dictate that an advertisement be rendered to auser within a prespecified time interval after a change of state of theelectronic device. For example, the advertiser may specify that theadvertisement be rendered to the user within one-half of an hour afterturning on the electronic device. Again, in this manner, theadvertisement may have a greater effectiveness with respect to the userthan compared to a traditional advertising method. The presentdisclosure may further facilitate a pricing structure for advertisementplacement that is based upon the relative usage of the user and therelative location of the advertisement placement. Thus, advertisers maybe charged a premium for the relative usage and placement ofadvertisements and/or content to specific users and the pricing of anadvertisement may not solely be based upon the time slot. The presentdisclosure may be utilized in conjunction with a system that is able todisseminate targeted advertisements to specific users of electronicdevices.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a diagram of an embodiment of asystem 100 in accordance with the principles of an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. The system 100 may include an electronic device 102and a centralized management system 110. The electronic device 102 maybe operable to render a content stream to a user. In an embodiment ofthe present disclosure, the electronic device 102 may comprise atelevision. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 102 may comprise a cell phone. In an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the electronic device 102 may comprise a computer, such as ahandheld computer, a laptop computer, or a desktop computer. In anembodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device 102 maycomprise a portable or handheld electronic device, such as a digitalmusic player (iPod®, mp3 player, etc.) and an internet access device. Itwill therefore be understood that the electronic device 102 may compriseany device that is able to render, either visually, audibly orotherwise, a content stream, to a user.

A content source 104 may provide a content stream to the electronicdevice 102 over a communication path 106. It will be appreciated thatwhile only one content source 104 is depicted in FIG. 1, that any numberof content sources may provide a content stream to the electronic device102. For example, the electronic device 102 may have the ability toreceive and tune different channels, such as television channels orradio channels. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, theelectronic device 102 may access different websites. The communicationpath 106 between the content source 104 and the electronic device 102may comprise a wireless communication path, a wired communication path,or a combination of both. In an embodiment of the present disclosure,the content source 104 may be located remotely from the electronicdevice 102. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the contentsource 104 may be located proximate the electronic device 102. In anembodiment of the present disclosure, the content source 104 may beintegrated into the electronic device 102.

The content source 104 may include, without limitation, a televisionstation network, a communications satellite, a cable TV station, agaming system, a web server, a cellular phone network, electronicmemory, a computer server, a music player, a computer, a DVD player, aBlu-Ray disc player, an HD DVD player, a high definition optical player,a CD player, a VCR player, a tape recorder, personal video recorder(“PVR”), an IPTV station, and any other similar and equivalent devices,now known or known in the future, that are able to transmit contentstreams for rendering to the electronic device 102. It should thereforebe understood that the content source 104 includes any device,apparatus, system or network capable of providing a content stream tothe electronic device 102.

The content stream may be delivered to the electronic device 102 fromthe content source 104 over the communication path 106. As mentioned,the communication path 106 may comprise a wired or wireless portion. Ifthe communication path 106 is a wireless communication path, the contentstream may be transmitted using a radio frequency communication schemesuch as those used for broadcast television, satellite TV, radiostations, pager networks, computer networks and cellular telephones. Ifthe communication path 106 is a wired communication path, the contentstream may be transmitted using a communication scheme commonly used forcable TV networks, computer buses, fiber optic networks, power linecommunication networks, telephone lines, twisted pair, CAT-5, RCAcables, HDMI cables, coaxial cables, or any other type of conductor orlight transmission device used to carry analog or digital information.In short, it should be recognized that, pursuant to the presentdisclosure, there is no limitation on the medium through which thecontent stream may be delivered to the electronic device 102 from thecontent source 104.

It will be noted that the content stream may originate from informationstored in any type of storage medium, including analog and digitalstorage mediums. For example, if the content source 104 is a gamingsystem, the content stream may be generated from information stored on acartridge, CD, DVD, Blu-Ray disc, or an HD DVD disk. If the contentsource 104 is a web server, the content stream may be generated frominformation stored electronically on a computer-readable storage mediumaccessible by the web server. Further, the content stream may begenerated on-demand in response to a request from the electronic device102. In that regard, the communication path 106 may allow one-way ortwo-way communications.

The content stream provided by the content source 104 may be providedon-demand or pursuant to a fixed broadcast schedule. For example, in thecase where the content source 104 is a web server, the content streammay be provided in response to a request from the electronic device 102.If the content source 104 is a television station or a radio network,the content stream may be broadcast pursuant to a fixed broadcastschedule. If the content source 104 is a gaming system, the contentstream may be provided when the gaming system is turned on and theappropriate game is installed into the gaming system.

The content source 104 may provide the content stream in any one of awide variety of media formats as is known to one having ordinary skillin the art. The only restriction on the formatting of the content streamis that it must be compatible for rending on the electronic device 102.Suitable formats for the content stream include all audio, video, media,proprietary, and other formats now known or known in the future.Suitable formats, include, without limitation, NTSC, HTML, DTV, AVI,Windows Media, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, QuickTime, RealVideo, Flash andShockwave. Other suitable formats include audio formats such as AAC,AC3, MID1, MP3, RealAudio, Waveform, and WMA. Other suitable formatsinclude image formats such as BMP, GIF, JPG, JPG 2000, MNG, PNG, SVG,TIFF. Other suitable formats include ASCII, DOC, EBCDIC, HTML, OEBPS,RTF, Unicode, WPD, and XML. Still other suitable formats include the CD,DVD, Blue-Ray, and HD DVD formats. Further, it will be noted that thecontent stream may be first received at an intermediary device, such asa decoder, router, gateway, satellite receiver, a cable receiver, or ahigh definition receiver, and then delivered to the electronic device102.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the content stream providedby the content source 104 may include programming and advertising. In anembodiment of the present disclosure, the content stream may includeprogramming or advertising. As used herein, the term “programming” mayrefer to content that a user of the electronic device 102 wishes toaccess, and may include, without limitation, shows, movies, websites,games, graphical user interfaces, operating systems and music. The term“advertising,” as used herein, may refer to a paid or unpaid promotionfor goods, services, companies and ideas by an advertiser. In addition,the term “advertising,” may refer to any type of solicitation of anykind.

In addition to receiving a content stream from the content source 104,the electronic device 102 may transmit and receive communications fromthe centralized management system 110 over a communication path 108. Inan embodiment of the present disclosure, the centralized managementsystem 110 may be located at a remote location, thereby requiring thatthe communication path 108 comprise a communications network. Suitablenetworks for the communication path 108 may include, without limitation,a computer network such as a local area network (“LAN”) or a wide areanetwork (“WAN”). In an embodiment of the present disclosure, thecommunication path 108 may comprise a packet-switched network, such asthe Internet. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, thecommunication path 108 may comprise a telephony network, such as a 3Gnetwork.

The communication path 108 between the centralized management system 110and the electronic device 102 may be direct or in-direct. Further, thecommunication path 108 may use any one of a wide variety of transmissionmediums, including a wireless communication path, a wired communicationpath, or a combination of both, and may span one or more differentnetworks. The electronic device 102 and the centralized managementsystem 110 may use the appropriate communications protocol tocommunicate with each other as is known by one having ordinary skill inthe art. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, at least one userof the electronic device 102 may complete an enrollment process with thecentralized management system 110. In an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, multiple users of the electronic device 102 may enroll withthe centralized management system 110. For example, all of the membersof a household may enroll with the centralized management system 110 asusers of the electronic device 102.

The enrollment process may be completed through a wide variety ofmethods, including through the electronic device 102 itself, anotherelectronic device, a live interview, or through completing a paper form.A graphical user interface, such as an interactive webpage or display,may be employed to assist in the enrollment process. In an embodiment ofthe present disclosure, the enrollment process may require that userscomplete a profile assessment by providing information in response tosurvey-type questions.

The enrollment process may obtain demographic information about usersassociated with the electronic device 102. In an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, the enrollment process may gather informationregarding the ages of users, the sexes of users, the incomes of users,the marital and family status of users, the races of users, theresidences of users, the native languages of users, credit informationof users, the hobbies of users, the general and specific interests ofusers, and/or any other information deemed necessary to direct targetedadvertisements to the users as is known to one have ordinary skill inthe art. The profile and demographic information gathered from the usersmay be stored in a database associated with the centralized managementsystem 110. The information may be used to generate user profiles foreach user of the electronic device 102. In an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the enrollment process may also allow a user to submit abiometric or non-biometric reference sample to be used in identifyingthe user.

As will now be explained in greater detail, the centralized managementsystem 110 is able to deliver targeted advertisements to users of theelectronic device 102 based upon the users' profiles. As used herein,the term “targeted advertisement” may mean an advertisement intended fora consumer having a specific profile or fitting a certain demographic incontrast to mass advertising. The targeted advertisements may besupplied to the centralized management system 110 from an advertisingsource 112. Once received at the centralized management system 110, theadvertisements may be stored and maintained for future dissemination tothe electronic device 102.

It will be appreciated that the advertising source 112 may be operatedby a third-party, such as an advertising agency or by an in-housemarketing department of a company. The advertising source 112 and thecentralized management system 110 may engage in communications over acommunication path 114. Through the communication path 114, theadvertising source 112 may transmit the targeted advertisements to thecentralized management system 110. The targeted advertisements may beprovided by the advertising source 112 in a format suitable fortransmission to the electronic device 102 by the centralized managementsystem 110. Alternatively, the centralized management system 110 mayhave the capability to format or re-format a targeted advertisement fortransmission to the electronic device 102 over the communication path108. Further, the targeted advertisements may be provided to thecentralized management system 110 on a portable storage medium, such asa CD or DVD.

In addition to the targeted advertisements, the advertising source 112may provide target profiles associated with each of the targetedadvertisements. The target profiles may define a desired target profileof one or more users to whom the targeted advertisements are directed.The target profiles for the targeted advertisements may be developed byusing profile information, which may contain demographic and behavioralinformation, stored at the centralized management system 110.

Once a targeted advertisement and its associated target profile havebeen received at the centralized management system 110, the centralizedmanagement system 110 may execute an operation to compare the targetprofile for the advertisement to the profiles of enrolled users tothereby determine a group of targeted users to whom the targetedadvertisement should be delivered. It will be appreciated by thosehaving ordinary skill in the art that the profiles of the targeted usersmay be only a close match to the target profile and that an exact matchis not required between the target profile and a user's profile. In anembodiment of the present disclosure, there is a 90% or higher matchbetween the target profile and a user's profile in order for the user tobe targeted. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is an 80%or higher match between the target profile and a user's profile in orderfor the user to be targeted. In an embodiment of the present disclosure,there is a 70% or higher match between the target profile and a user'sprofile in order for the user to be targeted.

The targeted advertisement provided by the advertising source 112 mayinclude a promotion for a product or service. The targeted advertisementmay comprise a political advertisement or some other solicitation. In anembodiment of the present disclosure, the advertising source 112 mayprovide a plurality of targeted advertisements that are intended to berendered pursuant to a predetermined sequence to users in accordancewith an advertising campaign. That is, an advertising campaign mayspecify that the targeted advertisements be shown in a specific order toeach targeted user. Thus, the advertising source 112 may also providepredetermined sequencing requirements for a plurality of targetedadvertisements associated with an advertising campaign to thecentralized management system 110 via the communication path 114.

In addition to providing a targeted advertisement and related targetprofile, the advertising source 112 may also specify one or moredelivery requirements for the targeted advertisement. Deliveryrequirements may specify the relative placement of the advertisement ina content stream received by the electronic device 102. In an embodimentof the present disclosure, the delivery requirement may specify that theadvertisement be rendered within a certain range from a change of stateof an electronic device. For example, the delivery requirement mayspecify that the targeted advertisement be rendered with a certain timeinterval from a change of state of the electronic device 102. A deliveryrequirement may specify that the targeted advertisement be rendered witha certain number of advertisements from a change of state of theelectronic device 102. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, adelivery requirement may specify the ordinal, i.e., first, second,third, etc., for rendering the targeted advertisement from a change ofstate of the electronic device 102.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a change of state of theelectronic device 102 may refer to a state change from off to on. Achange of state of the electronic device 102 may also include a changein channel, a volume adjustment, or any other change of state of theelectronic device 102 initiated by a user. It will be appreciated thatan advertisement rendered to a user soon after a change of state in theelectronic device 102 may likely be more effective than an advertisementrendered after the electronic device 102 has been on for several hours.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the centralized managementsystem 110 may comprise a pricing structure based upon the deliveryrequirements. That is, the pricing of the advertisement placement on theelectronic device 102 may depend on the particular delivery requirementsselected by the advertising source 112. As will be explained in moredetail hereinafter, a premium may be charged for the placement oftargeted advertisements immediately after a change of state. Further,certain changes of state may dictate even a higher premium. For example,an advertisement rendered immediately after a change in state of theelectronic device 102 from off to on, may command the highest premiumsince a user is more likely to be more receptive at this time than afterseveral hours of using the electronic device 102.

The centralized management system 110 may include an electronic storagemedium for storing information received from the advertising source 112,information received from the electronic device 102, and informationgenerated by the centralized management system 110. The centralizedmanagement system 110 may cause that targeted advertisements, targetprofiles, delivery requirements, and/or user profile information arestored locally at the centralized management system 110. In a mannerthat will be described in more detail hereinafter, the centralizedmanagement system 110 may disseminate the targeted advertisements, theidentification of the targeted user, and any associated deliveryrequirements to the electronic device 102. The targeted advertisementand delivery requirement may be electronically stored locally to theelectronic device 102. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, thecentralized management system 102 may disseminate the targetedadvertisement and associated delivery requirement to a plurality ofelectronic devices 102.

Each targeted advertisement disseminated to the electronic device 102may be linked to a known user of the electronic device 102. Theelectronic device 102 may then access the targeted advertisement andrender it to the targeted user of the electronic device 102 as specifiedin the link when it is determined that the targeted user is actuallyusing the electronic device 102. The targeted advertisements may berendered to a targeted user in accordance with advertisement placementopportunities in the content stream from the content source 104. Where adelivery requirement is associated with the targeted advertisement, theadvertisement placement opportunity may meet the delivery requirement.In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the targeted advertisementmay displace original advertising in the content stream.

In addition to the targeted advertisements, the centralized managementsystem 110 may further provide a subscription-based content stream tothe electronic device 102 over the communication path 108. Thesubscription-based content stream may be stored locally at theelectronic device 102 in a storage medium for rendering on-demand at alater time. The subscription-based content stream may include customizedprogramming selected by a user of the electronic device 102. The usermay request the subscription-based content stream in a variety ofmanners. In one embodiment, a user may simply select the desiredprogramming through a user interface of the electronic device 102. Theuser interface may be a graphical user interface. For example, thegraphical user interface may list programming available from thecentralized management system 110. The programming may includetelevision programs, movies, news, music and sporting events. Thesubscription-based content streams may also include subject matter basedcontent. That is, a user may elect to receive programming related to aparticular topic. For example, the user may select to receiveprogramming related to a particular sports team, actor, hobby, or event.The centralized management system 110 would, in response, deliver theprogramming selected by the user in a content stream. Thesubscription-based content stream may be rendered in real-time on theelectronic device 102. Alternatively, the subscription-based contentstream is stored at the electronic device 102 for later rendering at atime convenient to the user. Control over the rendering of thesubscription-based content stream may be done through a user interfaceassociated with the electronic device 102.

It will be appreciated that the subscription-based content stream allowsthe delivery of programming that may otherwise be unavailable. Forexample, a user may desire to receive a news broadcast from a televisionstation that does not broadcast in the geographical area where the userresides. The subscription-based content stream delivered from thecentralized management system 110 allows the user to receive the newsbroadcast. Further, the user is able to view the news broadcast at hisor her leisure thereby freeing the content stream from a fixed broadcastschedule. Further, it will be appreciated that the ability of thecentralized management system 110 to deliver the content stream directlyto the electronic device 102 allows the user to select only theprogramming that the user desires.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the user may select toreceive television shows from multiple different channels. Thesetelevision shows are delivered in the subscription-based content streamfrom the centralized management system 110 to the electronic device 102.The user may then view the television shows as if they were allbroadcast on a single channel. In this sense, the user is able to watcha “virtual channel” of programming selected by the user. Thus, it willbe appreciated that the user can select to receive sporting events,movies, television shows, news broadcasts, music, talk radio shows, orany other programming available from the centralized management system110.

The centralized management system 110 may not be limited to any onecontent source and could offer content from a wide variety of contentsources, including television networks, movie studies, radio stations,and even independent content sources. In an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the centralized management system 110 may allow a user toselect to receive programming in a native language of the user thatwould otherwise be unavailable. Further, the subscription-based contentstream may be provided to the centralized management system 110 by anoutside content source 120 over a communication path 122. It will beappreciated that the centralized management system 110 may receive thesubscription-based content stream from a multiple outside contentsources, including content source 104. Thus, the present disclosureallows programming that would not otherwise merit a dedicated “channel”to be delivered to the electronic device 102.

The present disclosure may also allow for advertisements to be placed inrelation to the subscription-based content streams. In an embodiment ofthe present disclosure, advertisements may be placed into thesubscription-based content streams at the centralized management system110. The subscription-based content streams are subsequently transmittedto the electronic device 102 together. In another embodiment, theadvertisements may be inserted into the subscription based contentstreams at the electronic device 102. Thus, in this embodiment, thesubscription-based content stream and the advertisements may beseparately transmitted to the electronic device 102 by the centralizedmanagement system 110. The advertisements placed into thesubscription-based content stream may be targeted to a specific user ofthe electronic device 102. Alternatively, the advertisements may beplaced into the subscription-based content stream based upon some othercriteria, or even no criteria at all. Thus, if a user selects to receivespecific content stream, e.g., a television show, from the centralizedmanagement system 110, the content stream would be rendered at theelectronic device 102 with the advertisements added at the centralizedmanagement system 110 or at the electronic device 102.

As previously mentioned, the targeted advertisements, deliveryrequirements, and, if transmitted, the subscription-based contentstream, may be stored in a storage medium locally associated with theelectronic device 102. When it is determined that the targeted user isactually using the electronic device 102, the electronic device 102 mayrender the targeted advertisement to the user at the first availableadvertisement placement opportunity in accordance with any deliveryrequirements. The determination that the targeted user is actually usingthe electronic device 102 may be accomplished through a biometric ornon-biometric recognition technique using the reference sample submittedby the user during the enrollment process.

The rendering of the targeted advertisement to a targeted user may beaccomplished in several ways. In an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, upon verification that a targeted user is actually using theelectronic device 102, the electronic device 102 may begin monitoringthe content stream from the content source 104 or the subscription basedcontent stream from the centralized management system 110 foradvertisement placement opportunities. In response to identifying anadvertisement placement opportunity, the electronic device 102 mayrender the targeted advertisement in accordance with the advertisementplacement opportunity. The placement of the targeted advertisement may,however, be subject a delivery requirement. In this case, the electronicdevice may render an advertisement at the first advertisement placementopportunity that satisfies the delivery requirement.

In addition, the communications between the centralized managementsystem 110 and the advertising source 112 may include a report regardingthe placement of the targeted advertisement. Likewise, thecommunications between the centralized management system 110 and thecontent source 120 may include a report regarding the placement of thetargeted advertisement. Thus, the electronic device 102 may reportfeedback to the centralized management system 110 over the communicationpath 108. The feedback may include an electronic notification reportingthat one or more targeted advertisements transmitted by the centralizedmanagement system 110 to the electronic device 102 has in fact beenrendered to the targeted user. This feedback may allow the centralizedmanagement system 110 to track the delivery of the targetedadvertisements.

Although only one advertising source 112 is depicted in FIG. 1, it willbe appreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art that thecentralized management system 110 may receive targeted advertisementsfrom multiple advertisement sources. In this manner, the centralizedmanagement system 110 is able to deliver targeted advertisements frommultiple advertisement sources. Further, it will be appreciated by thosehaving ordinary skill in the art, that multiple users may enroll withthe centralized management system 110 for the electronic device 102.

Moreover, although only one electronic device 102 is depicted in FIG. 1,it will be appreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art thatmultiple electronic devices, each having one or more users, may receivetargeted advertisements from the centralized management system 110. Inthis manner, the centralized management system 110 is able to delivertargeted advertisements and associated delivery requirements, if any,across multiple platforms to multiple users.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is illustrated a diagram of the logicaland other components of the electronic device 102 pursuant to anembodiment of the present disclosure. As previously mentioned, thepresent disclosure is not limited to any particular type of electronicdevice 102. An electronic device 102 may comprise, without limitation,televisions, cellular phones, computers, personal digital assistants andportable music players. Thus, it is to be understood by those havingordinary skill in the art that the features disclosed in relation toFIG. 2 may be incorporated into a wide range of electronic deviceshaving the ability to render a content stream.

The electronic device 102 may include standard device electronics 200and a local management system 202. The standard device electronics 200may be those components typically associated with the type of electronicdevice 102. For example, if the electronic device 102 is a television,then the standard device electronics 200 may include those componentstypically found in a conventional television. Likewise, if theelectronic device 102 is a computer, then the standard deviceelectronics 200 may include those components typically found in aconventional computer. Additionally, if the electronic device 102 is acellular phone, then the standard device electronics 200 may be thosecomponents typically found in a cellular phone.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the standard deviceelectronics 200 may include an input module 204, a rendering module 206,and an output module 208. The input module 204 may be operable toreceive a signal carrying a content stream from the content source 104and may comprise all the necessary circuitry and related software toaccomplish this task as is known to one having ordinary skill in theart. For example, if the content stream is received via a wirelessconnection, then the input module 204 may include an antenna andassociated radio frequency circuitry, including a radio receiverchipset, necessary to receive the signal. Likewise, if the contentstream is received via a wired connection, the input module 204 mayinclude the appropriate connection jacks and the necessary circuitry andsoftware to accomplish this task. The input module 204 may include amodem, a network card, and any other circuitry, hardware, decoder, andsoftware necessary to receive the content stream.

The rendering module 206 may be operable to transform the content streamfrom the received form into an appropriate form compatible with theoutput module 208. The rendering module 206 may render at least one ofdigital and analog signals. The output module 208 may comprise adisplay, including an electronic display, screen, monitor, and/orspeakers. The output module 208 may allow a user to actually perceivethe content stream as rendered by the rendering module 206. It will beappreciated that the structure and apparatus disclosed herein is merelyone example of a means for displaying an advertisement, and it should beappreciated that any structure, apparatus or system for displaying anadvertisement which performs functions the same as, or equivalent to,those disclosed herein are intended to fall within the scope of a meansfor displaying an advertisement, including those structures, apparatusor systems for displaying an advertisement which are presently known, orwhich may become available in the future. Anything which functions thesame as, or equivalently to, a means for displaying an advertisementfalls within the scope of this element.

The local management system 202 may include the various modules as willnow be described. A network gateway module 210 may be operable to allowcommunications between the electronic device 102 and the centralizedmanagement system 110. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, thenetwork gateway module 210 may comprise a connection to a LAN or a WAN.In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the network gateway module210 may allow communications to be received and transmitted over anetwork, such as the Internet. In particular, the network gateway module210 may facilitate the communications with the centralized managementsystem 110 over the communication path 108 (see FIG. 1).

Advertisements, delivery requirements and the identification of atargeted user may be received through the network gateway module 210. Inan embodiment of the present disclosure, the network gateway module 210and the input module 204 may share components if the communication pathsbetween the content source 104 and the centralized management system 110are the same or similar. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, thenetwork gateway module 210 may comprise at least one of a modem, anetwork card and a high speed Internet connection.

The storage module 212 may be operable to control the storage ofinformation in a digital storage medium 230 and may include theappropriate software and hardware drivers to effectuate the same. Theinformation stored on the storage medium 230 may include advertisements,delivery requirements, targeted user information, and one or morecontent streams, as well as any other needed information or computerprogramming required to accomplish the tasks and features as describedherein. It will be appreciated that the structure and apparatusdisclosed herein is merely one example of a means for electronicallystoring an advertisement, and it should be appreciated that anystructure, apparatus or system for electronically storing anadvertisement which performs functions the same as, or equivalent to,those disclosed herein are intended to fall within the scope of a meansfor electronically storing an advertisement, including those structures,apparatus or systems for electronically storing an advertisement whichare presently known, or which may become available in the future.Anything which functions the same as, or equivalently to, a means forelectronically storing an advertisement falls within the scope of thiselement.

A switching module 214 may be operable to cause that the advertisementsreceived from the centralized management system 110 are rendered on theelectronic device 102 according to advertisement placementopportunities. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the switchingmodule 214 may comprise a switch capable of switching between thecontent stream from the content source 104 and the advertisements storedon the storage medium 230. Thus, the switching module 214 maydynamically switch back and forth the source for the rendering module206 between the content stream from the content source 104 and theadvertisements, which may be stored locally at the electronic device102.

It will be appreciated that the structure and apparatus disclosed hereinis merely one example of a means for switching between a content streamand an advertisement, and it should be appreciated that any structure,apparatus or system for switching between a content stream and anadvertisement which performs functions the same as, or equivalent to,those disclosed herein are intended to fall within the scope of a meansfor switching between a content stream and an advertisement, includingthose structures, apparatus or systems for switching between a contentstream and an advertisement which are presently known, or which maybecome available in the future. Anything which functions the same as, orequivalently to, a means for switching between a content stream and anadvertisement falls within the scope of this element.

A change of state detection module 216 may monitor for an occurrence ofa change of state of the electronic device 102. The change of statedetection module 216 may monitor for a change of state from off to on.The change of state detection module 216 may monitor a change of statefrom one channel to another channel. The change of state detectionmodule 216 may monitor any change of state of the electronic device 102initiated by a user, including volume adjustment.

A reporting module 218 may generate feedback and other informationtransmitted to the centralized management system 110. The feedback mayinclude, for example, information verifying the rendering of a targetedadvertising to the targeted user.

A usage monitoring module 220 may monitor the usage of the electronicdevice 102 by a user. In particular, the usage monitoring module 220 maymonitor an amount of time a particular user uses the electronic device102. Through the usage monitoring module 220, for example, usageinformation may be determined that a user uses the electronic device 102a certain amount of time per day, week, month, etc. The usageinformation may be included in a report sent by the reporting module 218to the centralized management system 110.

A user identification module 222 may be operable to identify the user ofthe electronic device 102. The user identification module 222 mayincorporate integrated technologies that passively identify a user ofthe electronic device 102. As used herein, the term “passively” meansthat a user may not be actively aware of the operation of the useridentification module 222 or that the electronic device 102 may notrequire a specific user input to trigger the delivery of any targetedadvertisements. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the useridentification module 222 may utilize a biometric recognitiontechnologies and techniques. Suitable biometric recognition technologymay include fingerprint recognition, retina recognition, heartbeatrecognition, voice recognition, face recognition, and any othertechnology now known or known in the future that utilizes a measurable,physical characteristic or personal behavioral trait that may be used torecognize the identity, or verify the claimed identity, of a user. Otherpassive identification options for non-biometric technologies andtechniques include associating a specific user with a cellular phonenumber, a serial number of an electronic device, or IP address assignedto an electronic device. The user identification module 222 may thenidentify a user based on the proximity of a known user mobile deviceassociated with a specific cellular phone number, serial number, or IPaddress. The user identification module 222 may also use activeidentification technologies such as passwords, logins, and challengequestions to identify the user.

In the case where the user identification module 222 employs a biometricrecognition technology, prior enrollment by the user may be required.That is, a user may be required to submit a reference sample of thecharacteristic or trait used to identify the user as previouslydescribed. Once taken, the reference sample may be stored at thecentralized management system 110 or locally in the storage medium 230.The reference sample may be disseminated to the electronic device 102associated with the user through the communication path 108. It will beappreciated that the reference sample for a user may be disseminated tomultiple electronic devices 102 such that the user may only have toprovide the sample one time. The user identification module 222 mayinclude the necessary components to capture the user's characteristic ortrait. For example, in the case where the biometric technology utilizesfinger print recognition, the user identification module 222 may includea fingerprint scanner. Once the user's fingerprint is scanned, the scanis compared to the reference sample to thereby identify the user.

Once a user's identity is determined, or, stated another way, the userof the electronic device 102 is determined to have previously enrolledwith the centralized management system 110, an advertisement selectionmodule 223 may determine if any targeted advertisements stored in thestorage medium 230 are linked to the identified user. If a targetedadvertisement is linked to the current user of the electronic device102, then the advertisement selection module 223 may then notify theswitching module 214 and an opportunity detection module 226 that atargeted advertisement needs placement. If there are no targetedadvertisements, the advertisement selection module 223 may not take anyaction.

A communications module 224 may be operable to control communicationsbetween the electronic device 102 and the centralized management system110 through the network gateway module 210.

As discussed, the opportunity detection module 226 may be operable torecognize advertisement placement opportunities in relation to a contentstream from the content source 104. For example, the opportunitydetection module 226 may identify an advertising placement opportunityin a content stream for an advertisement received from the centralizedmanagement system 110. In order to identify an advertisement placementopportunity, the opportunity detection module 226 may monitor thecontent stream for embedded codes that signal an upcoming “time slot”designated for advertising. The embedded codes may take the form of aninaudible tone or any other type of signaling or flag. Once an upcomingslot designated for advertising has been identified, the opportunitydetection module 226 may cause that the original advertisements in thecontent stream be displaced by the targeted advertisements received fromthe centralized management system 110 using the switching module 214. Ifthe content stream is HTML coding that defines a webpage, theopportunity detection module 226 may cause a banner ad in the contentstream to be swapped with an advertisement, also a banner ad, from thecentralized management system 110.

If a particular advertisement is associated with a delivery requirement,the opportunity detection module 226 may determine an advertisementplacement opportunity that satisfies the delivery requirement. Theopportunity detection module 226 may therefore function cooperativelywith the change of state detection module 216, if needed, to ensure thatthe advertisement placement opportunity satisfies any associateddelivery requirements for an advertisement.

It will be appreciated that the structure and apparatus disclosed hereinis merely one example of a means for determining an advertisementplacement opportunity for the advertisement, and it should beappreciated that any structure, apparatus or system for determining anadvertisement placement opportunity for the advertisement which performsfunctions the same as, or equivalent to, those disclosed herein areintended to fall within the scope of a means for determining anadvertisement placement opportunity for the advertisement, includingthose structures, apparatus or systems for determining an advertisementplacement opportunity for the advertisement which are presently known,or which may become available in the future. Anything which functionsthe same as, or equivalently to, a means for determining anadvertisement placement opportunity for the advertisement falls withinthe scope of this element.

A subscription module 227 may manage the subscription-based contentstream from the centralized management system 110. The subscriptionmodule 227 may be operable to generate a graphical user interface toallow a user to select individualized content or programming availablefrom the centralized management system 110. In this regard, thecentralized management system 110 may transmit to the electronic device102 over the communication path 108 a list of all available content andprogramming, which is then displayed by the subscription module 227 to auser on the electronic device 102.

The local management system 202 may also include a microprocessor 228,also known as a centralized processing unit. As the various modules210-227 may include computer programming code to accomplish the featuresas described herein, the modules 210-227 may utilize the microprocessor228 to accomplish their intended purposes as outlined herein. In anembodiment of the present disclosure, the microprocessor 228 may beincorporated into the modules 210-227.

It will be appreciated that the local management system 202 may beintegrated into the electronic device 102 or may be contained in aseparate and stand-alone unit having a connection to the electronicdevice 102, i.e., the standard device electronics 200. It will furtherbe noted that any of the modules 210-227 may also be integrated into theelectronic device 102, or any or all of them may be externally locatedwith respect to the electronic device 102. Further, an omission of oneor more of the modules 210-227 in an electronic device 102 still fallswithin the scope of the present disclosure. That is, embodiments of thepresent disclosure may have less than all of the modules 210-227 shownin FIG. 2. Further, the modules 210-227 may share common resources,including software and hardware, without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is illustrated a diagram of the logicaland other components of an exemplary embodiment of a centralizedmanagement system 110. As mentioned above, the centralized managementsystem 110 may be remotely located from the electronic device 102 suchthat the centralized management system 110 is able to communicate with aplurality of electronic devices over a network. Indeed, it will beappreciated the centralized management system 110 may connect tothousands or millions of electronic devices via one or more networks.Various components of the centralized management system 110 will now bedescribed.

A network gateway module 302 may be operable to allow communicationsbetween the electronic device 102 and the centralized management system110. The network gateway module 302 may provide a connection to anetwork, such as a LAN or a WAN. In an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the network gateway module 302 may allow communications tobe received and transmitted over a network, such as the Internet or aproprietary network.

A delivery requirement management module 304 may allow for theestablishment of delivery requirements for one or more advertisements.Once established, a delivery requirement may be disseminated to theelectronic device 102. In particular, the delivery requirementmanagement module 304 may allow an operator to define deliveryrequirements for advertisements disseminated to the electronic device102 from the centralized management system 110. In an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, the delivery requirement may be at least one of anordinal restriction, a time restriction, and a number restrictionrelative to a change in state of the electronic device 102. An ordinalrestriction may require that an advertisement be rendered on theelectronic device 102 in a certain location in a content stream. Forexample, an ordinal restriction may require that an advertisement berendered in the first, second, third, etc., available advertisementplacement opportunity after a change of state of the electronic device102. A time restriction may require that an advertisement be rendered onthe electronic device 102 within a certain time interval after a changeof state of the electronic device 102. A number restriction may requirethat an advertisement be rendered with a certain interval ofadvertisements rendered on the electronic device 102.

A communications module 306 may be operable to control communicationsbetween the electronic device 102 and the centralized management system110 and the centralized management system 110 and the advertisementsource 112. For example, the communications module 306 may identifypreferred communication times to disseminate information to theelectronic device 102. The communication module 306 may track successfuland unsuccessful communications and repeat as often as is necessary. Thecommunication module 306 may be completely autonomous from humaninteraction such that the communications with the electronic device 102may occur automatically. The communications module 306 may send thecommunications through the network gateway module 302.

A reporting module 308 may be operable to generate reports regarding theadvertisement placement and also any fees due for the advertisementplacement. The reports may be generated automatically pursuant to areporting policy established by the operators of the centralizedmanagement system 110. The reports generated by the reporting module 308may include information received from the reporting module 218 (see FIG.2) of the electronic device 102.

A subscription module 310 may be operable to provide asubscription-based content stream having customized content to theelectronic device 102. For example, as explained previously, a user ofthe electronic device 102 may be able to interactively selectprogramming and other content for delivery to the electronic device 102from the centralized management system 110. Targeted advertisements maybe placed into the subscription-based content stream at the centralizedmanagement system 110 prior to transmission to the electronic device102. This may be done on-the-fly as the subscription-based contentstream is transmitted. Alternatively, the subscription-based contentstream may be transmitted to the electronic device 102 separately fromthe targeted advertisements. Thus, the subscription module 310 that maybe operable to allow a user to subscribe to any content stream availablefrom the centralized management system 110. As mentioned, the contentstream may be provided by an outside content source 120 (see FIG. 1)over the communication path 122 to the centralized management system110. It is contemplated that the present disclosure includes receivingcontent streams from multiple content sources and making them availableto the electronic device.

The subscription module 310 may provide a list of all available contentstreams to the electronic device 102 to thereby facilitate userselection at the electronic device 102. The subscription module 310 mayprovide navigable menu screens to the electronic device 102 such thatthe user may select from available programming. For example, the screensmay include all available movies, shows, programming or other contentavailable for delivery to the electronic device 102 through thecentralized management system 110. As discussed above, the content forthe subscription-based content stream may be provided to the centralizedmanagement system 110 by an outside content source 120 over acommunication path 122 (see FIG. 1).

The centralized management system 110 may include a storage module 312that is operable to manage and control the storage of information in astorage medium 326. The storage module 312 may include a databasemanagement application suitable for the purposes outlined herein. Thestorage module 312 may include the appropriate software drivers foraccessing information from the storage medium 326.

The centralized management system 110 may include a user profilemanagement and enrollment module 314 that may be operable to receive andmanage user profiles in a database environment on the storage medium326. A user profile may include demographic information regarding a userof the electronic device 102. The user profile management and enrollmentmodule 314 may administer an on-line profile assessment to a user tothereby enroll the user with the centralized management system 110. Theuser profile management and enrollment module 314 may also receive andstore biometric reference samples from users as part of the usersprofile. In addition, the user profile management and enrollment module314 may also associate all of the electronic devices of a user with theuser's profile. The user profile management and enrollment module 314may further receive and manage user usage information from the usagemonitoring module 220 of the electronic device 102 (see FIG. 2)regarding a user or each user enrolled with the centralized managementsystem 110.

The centralized management system 110 may also include a pricingmanagement module 316 that is operable to manage and control the pricingof the placement of the targeted advertisements. As previouslyintimated, the advertising source 112 (see FIG. 1) may be charged foruse of the features of the centralized management system 110. Thepricing management module 316 may be utilized to vary the pricing ofadvertisement placement depending upon the delivery requirements. Ingeneral, the pricing management module 316 may be utilized to establisha pricing structure that may include a premium for advertisementsrendered when the user is likely to be more attentive and receptive toan advertisement. In particular, the sooner an advertisement is renderedafter a change of state of the electronic device 102, the higher theprice for that advertisement. The pricing structure may utilize apercentage scale. The present disclosure allows for the pricing ofadvertisement placement to be based upon a parameter from apredetermined event, including an ordinal requirement for advertisementplacement, the relative timing of the advertisement placement, and therelative number of advertisements rendered to a user beforeadvertisement placement. Thus, it will be appreciated that the pricingmanagement module 316 may implement a pricing structure based upon aparameter as determined from a predetermined event.

In regard to the ordinal delivery requirement, Table 1, below,illustrates an exemplary pricing structure.

TABLE 1 Ordinal Device Turn On Pricing Content Change Pricing 1^(st)  100%  80%  2^(nd) 50% 40% 3^(rd) 30% 25% 4^(th) 25% 20% 5^(th) 20% 10%For example, if the advertisement is inserted into the first availableadvertisement placement opportunity after the electronic device 102 isturned on, i.e., a change of state, then the advertisement provider pays100% of the advertising charge. If however, the advertisement isinserted into the fourth available advertisement placement opportunityafter the electronic device 102 is turned on, then the advertisementprovider pays 25% of the advertising charge. Thus, an advertisementprovider may pay a premium for an advertisement placement rendered inthe first advertisement placement opportunity due to the fact that theuser is more likely to pay attention to the first advertisementrendered. Likewise, where there has been a content change, such as achannel change, on the electronic device 102 an advertisement providermay pay 80% of the advertisement charge to have its advertisement placedfirst after the change due to the fact that the user may be more likelyto pay attention.

In regard to the relative timing of the advertisement placement, Table2, below, illustrates an exemplary pricing structure.

TABLE 2 Time Device Has Been On Pricing <.5 hour 100%  .5-1 hour 75% 1-2hour 50% 2-4 hour 25% >4 hours  0%For example, if the advertisement is rendered within the first one-halfhour after the electronic device 102 has been turned on, then theadvertisement provider pays 100% of the advertising charge. If however,the advertisement is rendered between 2-4 hours after the electronicdevice 102 has been turned on, then the advertisement provider pays 25%of the advertising charge. Thus, an advertisement provider may pay apremium for an advertisement placement just after the electronic device102 has been turned on as compared to after the electronic device 102has been on for several hours. This exemplary pricing structure isdesigned to charge a premium for advertisements that are rendered duringthe most effective time intervals.

In regard to the relative number of advertisements seen by a user, Table3, below, illustrates an exemplary pricing structure.

TABLE 3 Number of Advertisements Seen by A User Pricing  <5 100%   5-1075% 10-20 50% 20-50 25% >50  0%For example, if the advertisement is rendered within the first fiveadvertisements seen by a user of the electronic device 102 after achange in state of the electronic device 102, then the advertisementprovider pays 100% of the advertising charge. If however, theadvertisement rendered between 20-50 advertisements seen by a user, thenthe advertisement provider pays 25% of the advertising charge. Thus, anadvertisement provider may pay a premium for early advertisementplacement before the user has been saturated with a large number ofadvertisements. Further, it will be appreciated that the above pricingstructures are based upon parameters as determined from a change ofstate of an electronic device. The parameters may include an ordinal, atime interval, or a number of advertisement seen by a user.

The centralized management system 110 may include a comparison module318 that is operable to compare the target profiles for any targetedadvertisements to the user profiles to thereby determine a group oftargeted users. At this point, the centralized management system 110 maygenerate feedback to the advertisement source 112 regarding the group oftargeted users. This feedback may include information regarding thenumber of users in the group of targeted users. This information mayallow the modification of the target profile such that the size of thegroup of targeted users may be increased or decreased. This process mayundergo several iterations until a desired group of targeted userprofiles has been generated.

After the targeted users have been identified and finalized by thecomparison module 318, the centralized management system 110 maydisseminate the targeted advertisements and the delivery requirement, ifany, to the electronic device 102 associated with each of the targetedusers via the advertisement delivery module 320. The advertisementdelivery module 320 may also transmit a link associated with a targetedadvertisement. The link may identify the targeted user to whom thetargeted advertisement is to be directed. In this manner, the electronicdevice 102 may utilize the link to ensure proper delivery of thetargeted advertisement to the targeted user.

It should be noted that users enrolled with the centralized managementsystem 110 who do not have a matching profile to the targeted profilemay not receive the targeted advertisements. The dissemination of thetargeted advertisements to the electronic devices 102 of the targetedusers may take place as the system 110 demands allow. Typically, thismay occur during off-peak hours. Further, the process may occur overseveral hours, days or weeks depending upon the size of the group oftargeted users.

An account management module 322 may be operable to establish and manageaccounts of advertisement providers. (An advertisement provider mayoperate the advertising source 112.) The account management module 322may keep track of the amounts owed by the advertisement providers basedupon the established pricing structure.

The centralized management system 110 may include a microprocessor 324,also known as a central processing unit, that is operable to process anyof the required data from any of the modules 302-322. The processor 324may take any one of a variety of forms including a single processor ormultiple processors. The processor 324 may be included in one or more ofthe modules 302-322. Further, it will be appreciated that thecentralized management system 110 may be integrated into a singlecomputing device or may be distributed across multiple computingplatforms. It will further be noted that the modules 302-322 may also beintegrated into a single computing device or may be separately locatedamongst multiple computing platforms. Further, omission of one or moreof the modules 302-322 falls within the scope of the present disclosure.That is, alternative embodiments of the present disclosure may have lessthan all of the modules 302-322 shown in FIG. 3.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown another exemplary embodiment ofthe present disclosure. A centralized management system 400 may compriseone or more computing devices 402 in communication with an electronicstorage medium 404. The centralized management system 400 may receivetargeted advertisements in an electronic format from a computing device406. The computing device 406 and the centralized management system 400may communicate over a computer network, such as the Internet. Thecomputing device 406 may be operated by advertisers or advertisingagencies. When received at the centralized management system 400, thetargeted advertisements may be electronically stored in the electronicstorage medium 404. The computing device 406 may also transmit targetprofile information to the centralized management system 400 inassociation with the targeted advertisements. The target profileinformation may specify a specific profile of the intended recipients ofthe targeted advertisements. The centralized management system 400 maycompare the target profile to user profiles stored on the electronicstorage medium 404 using a computer application running on computingdevices 402. The comparison of the target profile to the user profilesmay result in a group of targeted users for the targeted advertisements.Thus, it will be understood that the targeted users may have a profilethat matches or is close to the targeted profile. This list of targetedusers may be stored on the electronic storage medium 404. The computingdevice 406 may also transmit delivery requirement information to thesystem 400. The delivery requirement information may be at least one ofan ordinal requirement, a timing requirement, and a number requirement.

The targeted advertisements may include individual advertisementsintended to be rendered on different platforms. For example, thetargeted advertisements may include an advertisement in a formatsuitable for rendering on a television, an advertisement in a formatsuitable for rendering on a computer, and an advertisement in a formatsuitable for rendering on a cellular phone. The centralized managementsystem 400 may be able to manage the delivery of the targetedadvertisements across multiple platforms to a targeted user as will bedescribed in more detail below.

A user 412 may enroll with the centralized management system 400 bycompleting a profile assessment. This may be accomplished via an onlinesurvey, personal interview, or any similarly related methodologies.During the enrollment process, the user 412 may provide informationrelating to his or her profile, which is stored by the centralizedmanagement system 400. As mentioned previously, the profile may includeinformation regarding the age of the user 412, the sex of the user 412,income of the user 412, marital and family status of the user 412, therace of the user 412, the native language of the user 412, the creditrating of the user 412, hobbies of the user 412, interests of the user412, or any other information that can be used to direct targetedadvertisements to the user 412.

During the enrollment process, the user 412 may also provide a referencesample for biometric identification purposes. The reference sample mayinclude a reference sample suitable for identifying the user 412 usingany biometric recognition technology, including, without limitation,fingerprint recognition, retina recognition, heartbeat recognition,voice recognition, face recognition, and any other technology now knownor known in the future that utilizes a measurable, physicalcharacteristic or personal behavioral trait that may be used torecognize the identity, or verify the claimed identity, of a user. Theuser 412 may also be required to submit information for use with otherpersonal identification technologies, such as passwords, logins,identification numbers, and challenge questions—all of which can be usedto identify the user 412.

In return for enrollment, the user 412 may be provided with one or moreplatforms through which the advertisements may be delivered. Some of theplatforms provided to the user 412 may be a type of electronic device.FIG. 4 illustrates examples of some of the suitable platforms in theform of electronic devices that may be provided to the user 412 inreturn for enrollment with the centralized management system 400. Theseelectronic devices may include a computer 414, a cell phone 416, and atelevision 418. In addition, the user 412 may be provided with anaftermarket box 420 for enabling a traditional television 422 to be usedin accordance with the present disclosure.

Each of the computer 414, phone 416, television 418, and box 420, mayhave integrated components for enabling two-way electroniccommunications with the centralized management system 400. Thesecommunications may occur over a network, such as the Internet or someother network. The centralized management system 400 may be able todeliver the appropriate targeted advertisements to each of the computer414, phone 416, the television 418, and the box 420 along with a linkidentifying the user to whom the advertisement should be rendered, ifneeded. The targeted advertisements may be saved in a storage mediumassociated with each of the computer 414, phone 416, television 418, andthe box 420 for later rendering. For this reason, it will be appreciatedthat a targeted advertisement may be transmitted in a format suitablefor rendering on the electronic device to which it is sent. In thismanner, the present disclosure is able to deliver advertisements acrossmultiple platforms to the same user. The centralized management system400 may also transmit any delivery requirements for the targetedadvertisements.

The computer 414 may include a keyboard 414A, a mouse 414B, a remotecontrol 414C and a camera 414D. The keyboard 414A, mouse 414B and theremote control 414C may each include a biometric sensor for determiningthe identification of the user 412. The biometric sensor may include,for example, a fingerprint scanner, heartbeat scanner, or a microphoneused to capture the voice of the user 412. In one embodiment of thepresent disclosure, the identity of the user 412 is determinedpassively. For example, the fingerprint scanner may be located on acontrol button such that by using the control button, the fingerprint ofthe user 412 is automatically and passively captured. In anotherembodiment, the identity of the user is captured actively. For example,the user 412 may be required to speak such that the voice of the user412 may be captured for recognition. The camera 414D may be used tocapture an image of the face of the user 412 for use with facialrecognition techniques.

The television 418 may include a remote control 418A. The remote control418A may include a biometric sensor, including, for example, afingerprint scanner, a heartbeat scanner, or a microphone. In addition,a camera may be incorporated into the remote control 418A for enablingthe use of facial recognition techniques. Once a biometriccharacteristic or trait is captured, the remote control 418A maytransmit this information to the television 418. In addition, the remotecontrol 418A may be used for content selection.

The box 420, attached externally to a conventional television 422, mayalso include a biometric sensor, including, for example, a fingerprintscanner, a heartbeat scanner, or a microphone. In addition, a camera maybe incorporated into the box 420 for enabling the use of facialrecognition techniques. The box 420 may use the information to identifythe user 412.

It will be appreciated that the use of the biometric recognitiontechniques allow for the positive identification of instances when theuser 412 is actually using the electronic devices, namely the computer414 and the televisions 418 and 422. Further, these recognitiontechniques ensure that the targeted advertisements are rendered to theuser 412 and not some other party that happens to use any of theelectronic devices shown in FIG. 4.

It will be appreciated, that each user of an electronic device may berequired to enroll with the centralized management system 400. Forexample, all of the members of a household may enroll with the system400. In this case, targeted advertisements for each household member maybe sent to the electronic devices 414, 418, and 420 shown in FIG. 4.Further, since the targeted advertisements are stored locally at eachelectronic device, the targeted advertisements can be rendered to theappropriate user 412 when it is determined that the user 412 is actuallyusing the electronic device through the identification techniquesdescribed herein. In other words, a targeted advertisement may not berendered until it is determined that the user 412 is actually using theone of the electronic devices 414, 418, and 420 shown in FIG. 4.

One embodiment of a manner in which the targeted advertisements arerendered to the user 412 will now be explained for one exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure. In regards to the computer 414,the targeted advertisements may be rendered to the user 412 any timethat the user 412 is determined to be using the computer 414 through abiometric recognition technique or another identification technique. Inaddition, the computer 414 may receive an incoming content stream over anetwork from a content provider, such as an internet service provider.In an embodiment of the present disclosure, integrated modules in thecomputer 414 monitor the incoming content stream for targetedadvertisement placement opportunities. In addition, if there is adelivery requirement associated with the targeted advertisement, thenthe computer 414 may monitor the incoming content stream for targetedadvertisement placement opportunities that satisfy the deliveryrequirement.

The computer 414 may be able to replace an advertisement in the contentstream with a targeted advertisement directed to the user 412. Forexample, in the case where the content stream includes a banner ad, thecomputer 414 may replace the banner ad in the content stream, with atargeted advertisement banner ad. In another embodiment, the incomingcontent stream may be monitored at a router level instead of at thecomputer 414. The advertisement placement can then take place at therouter level in the same manner described herein. In another embodiment,the incoming content stream may be routed through a proprietary serveror gateway. The advertisement placement can take place at thisproprietary server or gateway in the same manner described herein. Thus,it should be understood that advertisement placement into a contentstream can take place at any point along the path of the content streambetween the content provider and the electronic device which renders thecontent stream. Further, the targeted advertisement placement may takeplace at the content provider prior to transmission.

Typically, the user 412 may never see the original banner ad transmittedin the content stream, since it is replaced with the targetedadvertisement sent by the centralized management system 400. Thisplacement process is facilitated by the fact that the targetadvertisements are stored locally on the computer 414, a router, orproprietary server, as the case may be. The present disclosure may beable to replace other advertisements typically found on webpages. Inaddition, the targeted advertisements may be inserted into computerapplications running on the computer 414. The computer applications mayinclude computer games and the like.

In regards to the television 418, the targeted advertisements may berendered to the user 412 in accordance with the delivery requirements,if any, anytime that the user 412 is determined to be watching thetelevision 418 through a biometric recognition technique or anotheridentification technique. For example, the biometric sensor on theremote control 418A may assist in identifying the user 412. Thetelevision 418 may have the necessary components for storing andrendering the targeted advertisements integrated into the television418. The television 418 may also have the necessary components forcommunicating with the centralized management system 400 integratedtherein.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, after the positivedetermination that the user 412 is using the television 418, thetelevision 418 may monitor an incoming content stream for anadvertisement placement opportunity in accordance with any deliveryrequirement, if any. The incoming content stream may include, withoutlimitation, broadcast television signals, satellite signals, cablesignals, IPTV signals, signals from gaming consoles (Xbox, Playstation,Nintendo), and signals from VCR, DVD, Blue-Ray and HD DVD players. Theadvertisement placement opportunities may be recognized from embeddedsignals in the content stream, a programming schedule, or by any othermeans as previously described.

Once a targeted advertisement placement opportunity has been determinedthat satisfies any delivery requirement, the targeted advertisementdirected specifically to the user 412 is retrieved from a local storagemedium and rendered to the user 412 in accordance with the targetedadvertisement placement opportunity. Alternatively, the targetedadvertisement may be pre-buffered by the television 418 for nearlyinstantaneous rendering. The rendering of the targeted advertisement mayinvolve displacing an original advertisement in the incoming contentstream. However, the user 412 typically may not know that anadvertisement in the content stream has been displaced by a targetedadvertisement as the targeted advertisement appears to be part of thenormal content stream.

In regard to the television 422, it may not have the integratedcomponents to store and render a targeted advertisement to the user 412.The use of the box 420, which has the components necessary for storingand rendering the targeted advertisements received from the centralizedmanagement system 400, may allow for the placement of the targetedadvertisements in a manner similar to that described in relation totelevision 418. Further, the box 420 may include biometric recognitiontechnologies for positively identifying when the user 412 is watchingthe television 422. It will be appreciated that the use of box 420allows the present disclosure to be used with off-the-shelf consumerproducts, such as television 422. The box 420 can be adapted to functionwith other types of electronic devices. The box 420 may further ensurethat targeted advertisements are rendered according to any associateddelivery requirements.

In regard to the cellular phone 416, the targeted advertisements may berendered to the user 412 at anytime on a display of the phone 416.Further, the phone 416 may not require the use of a biometricrecognition technology due the fact the cellular phones typically do nothave multiple users. However, the use of a biometric recognitiontechnology or other identification technique with a cellular phone iswithin the scope of the present disclosure. The targeted advertisementsmay be delivered over a cellular phone network from the centralizedmanagement system 400. Prior to rendering, the targeted advertisementmay be stored in a memory device of the phone 416.

Each of the electronic devices, i.e., computer 414, phone 416,television 418, and box 420 may report the rendering of a targetedadvertisement to the user 412 back to the centralized management system400. This reporting or feedback may be particularly useful in managingan advertising campaign directed to the user 412. For example, once ithas been determined that an advertisement has been rendered to the user412, using any of the electronic devices, computer 414, phone 416, box420, and television 418, the centralized management system 400 mayimplement another phase of an advertising campaign. Likewise, theability of the electronic devices illustrated in FIG. 4, i.e., thecomputer 414, phone 416, television 418, and box 420 to provide reportsor feedback may allow for reports to be sent to computing device 406.Thus, if computing device 406 is operated by advertisers, theadvertisers are able to track the progress of the placement of theirtargeted advertisements in virtually real-time.

As mentioned, the identification of the user 412 may occur passively oractively through the integrated components of the electronic devices,i.e., the computer 414, phone 416, television 418, and box 420, shown inFIG. 4. The integrated components in the electronic devices shown inFIG. 4 may take the form of the components shown in relation to thelocal management system 202 shown in FIG. 2. Typically, the presentdisclosure captures the required identification data through the normaluse of the electronic devices by the user 412. The centralizedmanagement system 400 may comprise several computing devices toaccomplish the features described herein. The centralized managementsystem 400 may take the form of the centralized management system 110illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3. Additionally, the centralized managementsystem 400 may comprise various servers, including application servers,file transfer servers, and database servers as is known to one havingordinary skill in the art.

A computing device suitable for use as part of the centralizedmanagement system 400 will now be described. It will be appreciated thatthis same description may describe a suitable form for computer 414. Thecomputing device may have various forms, including a desktop PC, adedicated server, a laptop or a portable tablet form, or a hand heldform. The features of the computing device described herein may beintegrated or separable from the computing device. For example, whilethe computing device may have a monitor, it may be integrated into thecomputing device, such as the case of a laptop or tablet type computer.

The computing device suitable for use as part of the centralizedmanagement system 400 or computer 414 may include a system memory and asystem bus that interconnects various system components including thesystem memory to a processing unit. The system bus may be any of severaltypes of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, aperipheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of busarchitectures as is known to those skilled in the relevant art. Thesystem memory may include read only memory (ROM) and random accessmemory (RAM). A basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basicroutines that help to transfer information between elements within thecomputing device, such as during start-up, is stored in the ROM. Thecomputing device may further include a hard disk drive for reading andwriting information to a hard disk, a magnetic disk drive for readingfrom or writing to a removable magnetic disk, and an optical disk drivefor reading from or writing to a removable optical disk such as a CDROM, DVD, or other optical media.

It will be appreciated that the hard disk drive, magnetic disk drive,and optical disk drive may be connected to the system bus by a hard diskdrive interface, a magnetic disk drive interface, and an optical diskdrive interface, respectively. The drives and their associatedcomputer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage of computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules and other data for thecomputing device. Although the exemplary environment described hereinemploys a hard disk, a removable magnetic disk, and a removable opticaldisk, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the relevant art thatother types of computer readable media which can store data that isaccessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memorycards, digital video disks, Bernoulli cartridges, random accessmemories, read only memories, and the like, may also be used in theexemplary operating environment.

A number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk, magneticdisk, optical disk, ROM or RAM, including an operating system, one ormore applications programs, other program modules, and program data. Theapplication programs may include programs suitable for accomplishing thefeatures and tasks described herein with relation to the centralizedmanagement system 400 or the computer 414. A user may enter commands andinformation into the computing device through input devices such as akeyboard and a pointing device, such as a mouse. These and other inputdevices are often connected to the processing unit through a serial portinterface that is coupled to the system bus. Increasingly, such devicesare being connected by the next generation of interfaces, such as auniversal serial bus interface with a USB port, and to which other hubsand devices may be connected. Other interfaces (not shown) that may beused include parallel ports, game ports, and the IEEE 1394specification.

A monitor or other type of display device is also connected to thesystem bus via an interface, such as a video adapter. In addition to themonitor, the computing device typically includes other peripheral outputor input devices. For example, an ultra slim XGA touch panel may beused. A resistive finger touch screen may also be used. Further, it iswell understood by those having the relevant skill in the art that akeyboard, scanner, printer, external drives (e.g., hard, disk andoptical) and a pointing device may be connected to the computing devicesuitable for use as part of the centralized management system 400 or thecomputer 414. In addition, the computing device may be capable ofcommunicating with a network and sending/receiving audio, video anddata.

The computing device may operate in a networked environment usinglogical connections to one or more remote computers or electronicdevices as described herein. The types of connections between networkeddevices include dial up modems, e.g., a modem may be directly used toconnect to another modem, ISDN, xDSL, cable modems, wireless and includeconnections spanning users connected to the Internet. The remotecomputer may be another personal computer, a server, a router, a networkPC, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includesmany or all of the elements described in relation to the computingdevice. In particular, the computing device may be able to communicatewith the electronic devices described herein.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computing device isconnected to a local network through a network interface or adapter. Thecomputing device may also connect to the LAN via through any wirelesscommunication standard, such as the 802.11 wireless standard. When usedin a WAN networking environment, the computing device typically usesmodem or other means for establishing communications over the wide areanetwork. It should be noted that the modem may be internal or externaland is connected to the system bus. It will be appreciated that thenetwork connections described herein are exemplary and other means ofestablishing a communications link between the computers may be used,e.g., from a LAN gateway to WAN.

Generally, the data processors of the computing device suitable for useas part of the centralized management system 400 or the computer 414 areprogrammed by means of instructions stored at different times in thevarious computer-readable storage media of the computer. Programs andoperating systems are typically distributed, for example, on floppydisks or CD-ROMs. From there, they are installed or loaded into thesecondary memory of a computer. At execution, they are loaded at leastpartially into the computer's primary electronic memory. The disclosuredescribed herein includes these and other various types ofcomputer-readable storage media when such media contain instructions orprograms for implementing the steps described herein in conjunction witha microprocessor or other data processor. The disclosure also includesthe computing device itself when programmed according to the methods andtechniques described herein.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is depicted a flow diagram according toan embodiment of the present disclosure. At step 500, a targetedadvertisement and an associated target profile and delivery requirementmay be received at a centralized management system. The targetedadvertisement, target profile and the delivery requirement may betransmitted either separately or together over a computer network to thecentralized management system. Alternatively, the targetedadvertisement, target profile, and the delivery requirement may bedelivered to the centralized management system on a portable storagemedium where they are loaded into the centralized management system. Thecentralized management system may comprise a computer database having aplurality of user profiles stored therein. Alternatively, the targetprofile and delivery requirement may be defined at the centralizedmanagement system.

At step 502, a computer application running on the centralizedmanagement system may compare the target profile to the user profiles inorder to determine a group of targeted users. This comparison may returnat least one targeted user. The targeted users may have a profile thatmatches or is similar to the target profile. At step 504, the targetedadvertisement and associated delivery requirement may be delivered toelectronic devices of the targeted users. This may be accomplished bytransmitting the targeted advertisement and delivery requirement fromthe centralized management system to one or more electronic devicesassociated with each targeted user. At step 506, the electronic deviceof each of the targeted user may determine when the targeted user isactually using the electronic device, and, at step 508, the electronicdevice may dynamically render the targeted advertisement to the targeteduser pursuant to an advertisement placement opportunity that satisfiesthe delivery requirement. At step 510, a report regarding the renderingof the targeted advertisement may be generated and electronicallytransmitted back to the centralized management system.

Referring now to FIG. 6, there is depicted a flow diagram according toan embodiment of the present disclosure. At step 600, a change of stateis detected in an electronic device. The change of state may include atleast one of the electronic device switching from off to on, a change ofchannel, and any other user initiated state change of the electronicdevice. Upon the occurrence of the change of state, at step 602, acontent stream is monitored for an advertisement placement opportunitythat satisfies a delivery requirement. In an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the delivery requirement may specify that an advertisementbe rendered within a certain range from a change of state of theelectronic device. For example, the delivery requirement may specifythat the targeted advertisement be rendered with a certain time intervalfrom a change of state of the electronic device. A delivery requirementmay specify that the targeted advertisement be rendered with a certainnumber of advertisements from a change of state of the electronicdevice. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a deliveryrequirement may specify the ordinal, i.e., first, second, third, etc.,for rendering the targeted advertisement from a change of state of theelectronic device. At step 604, an advertisement placement opportunityis identified in the content stream that satisfies the deliveryrequirement. At step 606, an advertisement in the content stream isreplaced with the desired advertisement.

Referring now to FIG. 7, there is depicted a flow diagram according toan embodiment of the present disclosure. At step 700, it is determinedwhether any delivery requirements are associated with an advertisement.If not, then at step 702 the advertisement is rendered in accordancewith an advertisement placement opportunity. If the advertisement is atargeted advertisement, then the advertisement is rendered to a targeteduser. If there is a delivery requirement, then at step 704, it isdetermined if the delivery requirement is an ordinal restriction. Anordinal restriction may specify that the advertisement be the firstadvertisement rendered to a user after an electronic device has incurreda state change, such as being turned on or changed channels. If thedelivery requirement is an ordinal restriction, then at step 706, anadvertisement placement opportunity in accordance with the ordinalrestriction is determined, and, at step 708, the advertisement isrendered in accordance with the advertisement placement opportunity. Ifthe advertisement is a targeted advertisement, then the advertisement isrendered to a targeted user. At step 710, a report is generated on theplacement of the advertisement.

If the delivery requirement is not an ordinal restriction, then at step712, it is determined whether the delivery requirement is a timerestriction. A time restriction may specify that an advertisement berendered to a user within a certain time interval after a change ofstate of an electronic device. For example, the time restriction mayspecify that the advertisement be rendered within the first half-hourfrom a change of state of the electronic device. If the deliveryrequirement is a time restriction, then at step 714, an advertisementplacement opportunity in accordance with the time restriction isdetermined. Then, at step 716, the advertisement is rendered inaccordance with the advertisement placement opportunity. If theadvertisement is a targeted advertisement, then the advertisement isrendered to a targeted user. Then, at step 710, a report is generated onthe placement of the advertisement.

If the delivery requirement is not a time restriction, then at step 718,it is determined whether the delivery requirement is a numberrestriction. A number restriction may specify an interval of a number ofadvertisements rendered to a user in which the desired advertisement isto be rendered to the user. For example, a number restriction mayspecify that an advertisement be rendered within the first fiveadvertisements rendered to a user. If the delivery requirement is anumber restriction, then at step 720, an advertisement placementopportunity is located in accordance with the number restriction. Then,at step 722, the advertisement is rendered in accordance with theadvertisement placement opportunity. If the advertisement is a targetedadvertisement, then the advertisement is rendered to a targeted user. Atstep 710, a report is generated on the placement of the advertisement.

If the delivery requirement is not a number restriction, then at step724, it is determined whether the delivery requirement is some otherrestriction. If the delivery requirement is some other restriction, thenat step 726 an advertisement placement opportunity is located inaccordance with the some other restriction. Then, at step 728, theadvertisement is rendered in accordance with the advertisement placementopportunity. If the advertisement is a targeted advertisement, then theadvertisement is rendered to a targeted user. At step 710, a report isgenerated on the placement of the advertisement.

Referring now to FIG. 8, there is depicted a flow diagram according toan embodiment of the present disclosure. At step 800, a user profile isestablished in a computer environment, such as in an electronicdatabase. The user profile may include an entry for tracking usageinformation of an electronic device associated with the user. The usageinformation may include the time spent by the user using the electronicdevice. At step 802, the electronic device is monitored to determine theusage of the user of the electronic device. At step 804, the entry inthe user's profile is updated to reflect the user's usage of theelectronic device. For example, the usage may reflect that the usage ofthe electronic device is two (2) hours per day. At step 806, anadvertisement is selected for rendering to the user based upon theuser's usage as recorded in the entry of the user profile. That is, theadvertisement is selected to be rendered to the user based, at least inpart, upon the user's usage level of the electronic device.

Referring now to FIG. 9, there is depicted a flow diagram according toan embodiment of the present disclosure. At step 900, a deliveryrequirement is associated with an advertisement. The deliveryrequirement may specify that the advertisement be rendered to a userwithin a specified criteria as measured from a change of state of anelectronic device. At step 902, a change in state of the electronicdevice is detected. This may include a channel change, a content change,detecting a targeted user or even turning the electronic device from offto on. At step 904, an advertisement placement opportunity is determinedthat satisfies the delivery requirement. At step 906, the advertisementis rendered to the user pursuant to the specified criteria as measuredfrom the change of state of the electronic device. In an embodiment ofthe present disclosure, the specified criteria may include a timerestriction or a number restriction.

Referring now to FIG. 10, there is depicted a flow diagram according toan embodiment of the present disclosure. At step 1000, a deliveryrequirement is associated with an advertisement. The deliveryrequirement may specify that an advertisement be rendered to a userwithin a specified numerical range of advertisements rendered to theuser. At step 1002, the number of advertisements rendered to the userare tracked. This tracking may initiate upon a change of state of the anelectronic device. At step 1004, an advertisement placement opportunityis determined within the specified numerical range. At step 1006, theadvertisement is rendered to the user within the specified numericalrange.

It will be appreciated that in an embodiment of the present disclosure,that the advertisement rendered on an electronic device may or may notbe a targeted advertisement. That is, the present disclosure may besuitable for use with non-targeted advertisement as well as targetedadvertisements. In particular, delivery requirements may be utilizedwith both targeted and non-targeted advertisements. As used herein, theterm “advertisement” may be understood to refer to both targeted andnon-targeted advertisements.

Those having ordinary skill in the relevant art will appreciate theadvantages provided by the features of the present disclosure. Forexample, it is a feature of the present disclosure to provide a systemfor delivering targeted advertisements to a user of an electronicdevice. Another feature of the present disclosure is to provide aconfirmation or verification that a targeted advertisement has beenrendered to a targeted user. It is a further feature of the presentdisclosure, in accordance with one aspect thereof, to render anadvertisement in satisfaction of a delivery requirement. As used in thefollowing claims, the term “content stream” may be construed toincorporate subscription-based content streams as discussed above.

In the foregoing Detailed Description, various features of the presentdisclosure are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purposeof streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to beinterpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed disclosurerequires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather,as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than allfeatures of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the followingclaims are hereby incorporated into this Detailed Description of theDisclosure by this reference, with each claim standing on its own as aseparate embodiment of the present disclosure.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are onlyillustrative of the application of the principles of the presentdisclosure. Numerous modifications and alternative arrangements may bedevised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spiritand scope of the present disclosure and the appended claims are intendedto cover such modifications and arrangements. Thus, while the presentdisclosure has been shown in the drawings and described above withparticularity and detail, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art that numerous modifications, including, but not limited to,variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner ofoperation, assembly and use may be made without departing from theprinciples and concepts set forth herein.

1. A method for rendering an advertisement using an electronic device,said method comprising: defining a delivery requirement for theadvertisement; monitoring a content stream for an advertisementplacement opportunity in accordance with the delivery requirement;determining an advertisement placement opportunity in accordance withthe delivery requirement; rendering the advertisement on the electronicdevice in accordance with the advertisement placement opportunity; andoutputting the advertisement at an output module of the electronicdevice.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said delivery requirementrequires that the advertisement be rendered on the electronic devicewithin a specified time interval after an occurrence of a predeterminedevent.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein said predetermined eventcomprises a change in state of the electronic device.
 4. The method ofclaim 2, wherein said change of state is when the electronic device isswitched from off to on.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein said changeof state is when a channel of the electronic device is switched from onechannel to another channel.
 6. The method of claim 2, wherein saidchange of state is when a volume of the electronic device is increasedor decreased.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein said deliveryrequirement requires that the advertisement be rendered on theelectronic device at a specified ordinal location in the content stream.8. The method of claim 7, wherein the specified ordinal locationcomprises a placement of the advertisement with respect to otheradvertisements.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the specified ordinallocation comprises a placement of the advertisement with respect toother advertisements in the content stream as determined from apredetermined event.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein saidpredetermined event comprises a change in state of the electronicdevice.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein said delivery requirementrequires that the advertisement be rendered on the electronic devicewithin a specified range of advertisements rendered on the electronicdevice.
 12. A method for rendering a targeted advertisement having anassociated target profile, said method comprising: defining a deliveryrequirement for the targeted advertisement; comparing the target profileto a plurality of user profiles stored in a database to therebydetermine a group of targeted users; transmitting the targetedadvertisement and the delivery requirement over a network to electronicdevices associated with each of the targeted users; rendering thetargeted advertisement on the electronic devices of the targeted usersin accordance with the delivery requirement; and outputting theadvertisement at an output module of the electronic device.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, wherein said delivery requirement requires that theadvertisement be rendered on a given electronic device within aspecified time interval after an occurrence of a predetermined event.14. The method of claim 13, wherein said predetermined event comprises achange in state of the given electronic device.
 15. The method of claim13, wherein said change of state is when the given electronic device isswitched from off to on.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein said changeof state is when a channel of the given electronic device is switchedfrom one channel to another channel.
 17. The method of claim 13, whereinsaid change of state is when a volume level of the given electronicdevice is increased or decreased.
 18. The method of claim 12, whereinsaid delivery requirement requires that the advertisement be rendered ona given electronic device at a specified ordinal location in a contentstream.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the specified ordinallocation comprises a placement of the advertisement with respect toother advertisements.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the specifiedordinal location comprises a placement of the advertisement with respectto other advertisements in the content stream as determined from apredetermined event.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein saidpredetermined event comprises a change in state of the electronicdevice.
 22. The method of claim 12, wherein said delivery requirementrequires that the advertisement be rendered on a given electronic devicewithin a specified range of advertisements rendered on the electronicdevice.
 23. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step ofmonitoring a content stream for an advertisement placement opportunityin accordance with the delivery requirement.
 24. A method for renderingan advertisement to one or more of a plurality of users, each userhaving an associated electronic device, said method comprising: storingusage information for each of the plurality of users in an electronicstorage medium; establishing a usage criteria in association with theadvertisement; determining a group of targeted users from the pluralityof users based upon said usage criteria; and rendering theadvertisements to each of the group of targeted users.
 25. The method ofclaim 24, wherein said usage information comprises information regardingan amount of time spent by each user using an associated electronicdevice.
 26. The method of claim 24, wherein storing usage informationfurther comprises storing usage information in a database.
 27. Themethod of claim 24, further comprising storing profile informationregarding each of the plurality of users in the electronic storagemedium.
 28. The method of claim 24, further comprising disseminating theadvertisement to the electronic devices of each of the targeted usersover a network from a centralized computing system.
 29. The method ofclaim 24, further comprising monitoring at least one content stream foran advertisement placement opportunity.
 30. The method of claim 24,further comprising establishing a delivery requirement for theadvertisement.
 31. The method of claim 30, wherein said deliveryrequirement requires that the advertisement be rendered to each of thetargeted users within a specified time interval after an occurrence of apredetermined event.
 32. The method of claim 30, wherein said deliveryrequirement requires that the advertisement be rendered to each of thetargeted users within a specified range of advertisements.
 33. Themethod of claim 30, wherein said delivery requirement requires that theadvertisement be rendered to each of the targeted users at a specifiedordinal location in a content stream.
 34. The method of claim 30,further comprising disseminating the delivery requirement to theelectronic devices of each of the targeted users over a network from acentralized computing system.
 35. A system for rendering anadvertisement using an electronic device, said system comprising: adelivery requirement management module for defining a deliveryrequirement for the advertisement; an advertisement opportunitydetection module for monitoring a content stream for an advertisementplacement opportunity in accordance with the delivery requirement; and arendering module for rendering the advertisement on the electronicdevice in accordance with the advertisement placement opportunity. 36.The system of claim 35, further comprising a change of state detectionmodule for determining a state of change of the electronic device. 37.The system of claim 35, further comprising a user identification modulefor determining an identity of a user of the electronic device.
 38. Thesystem of claim 35, wherein said advertisement is a targetedadvertisement.
 39. The system of claim 35, further comprising aswitching module for switching a source between the content stream andthe advertisement.
 40. The system of claim 35, wherein said deliveryrequirement requires that the advertisement be rendered within aspecified time interval after an occurrence of a change of state of theelectronic device.
 41. The system of claim 35, wherein said deliveryrequirement requires that the advertisement be rendered within aspecified range of advertisements after an occurrence of a change ofstate of the electronic device.
 42. The system of claim 35, wherein saiddelivery requirement requires that the advertisement be rendered at aspecified ordinal location in a content stream after an occurrence of achange of state of the electronic device.
 43. A system for disseminatingan advertisement to a plurality of electronic devices, said systemcomprising: a network gateway module for providing a communication pathto each of the plurality of electronic devices; a delivery requirementmanagement module for defining a delivery requirement for theadvertisement; a pricing management module for determining a price forsaid advertisement based upon said delivery requirement; and anadvertisement delivery module for transmitting said advertisement anddelivery requirement to each of the plurality of electronic devices viasaid network gateway module.
 44. The system of claim 43, wherein saidpricing management module implements a pricing structure based upon aparameter as determined from a predetermined event.
 45. The system ofclaim 44, wherein said predetermined event is a change of state of anelectronic device.
 46. The system of claim 45, wherein said change ofstate is from a power off state to a power on state.
 47. The system ofclaim 45, wherein said change of state is a change of content.
 48. Thesystem of claim 44, wherein said parameter is an ordinal requirement foradvertisement placement.
 49. The system of claim 44, wherein saidparameter is a relative timing for advertisement placement.
 50. Thesystem of claim 44, wherein said parameter is a relative number ofadvertisements rendered to a user before advertisement placement.